"Miss X' - a kitty in need of a helping hand

When I arrived the next day, Mr. B and his son-in-law (Mr. G), were waiting for me in the driveway. They led me a short distance into the pine forest at the back of the house to a tree where Mrs. B was waiting. The kitty was a young tortoise shell, currently perched about 20 ft. up on a relatively young 40 ft. pine tree. It had a small diameter trunk, no limbs for about 15 feet, then lots-o-limbs all of the rest of the way up. The limbs were too small for me to feel safe about installing a climbing line from the ground, so it was going to have be a spike-climbing approach. The kitty was a stray, so I have decided to call her Miss X for this narrative because she is definitely a mystery. What chased her up the tree? How did she find her way there? What is her favorite cat food? Anyway, Miss X was crying piteously for somebody to come and get her. I was told that the previous day, a rescue attempt had been made by cutting down the tree that she was originally in, but Miss X had hopped over to her current tree when that one fell. I boldly pronounced to all present that this was going to be an easy rescue, 15 minutes tops! I was thinking that I was going to repeat the Bobtailrescue, where I would just strap on spikes, climb up, grab the kitty, and be done. It turned out that was a stupid thing to say.

So, I strapped on my spikes, and started up. I had not gone more than 5 ft up when I heard all sorts of scrambling noises, and it was Miss X heading further up the tree. Sigh. I kept going and reached the start of the branches. At this point, things got slow, as the branches were dense, and working my lanyards up through them so that I was always connected to the tree took time. Every time I got close to Miss X, she went further up the tree. Miss X finally ran out of tree real estate, and perched herself on the very tippy-top crown of the stem. When I got there, with both of us swaying in the breeze, the stem was too small for me to get close enough to grab her. I dropped a line down to Mr. G, who attached my catch pole, which I dragged back up. I then attempted to snag the midsection of Miss X with the wire hoop at the end of the catch pole. I was spectacularly unsuccessful at this, because of all the branches in the way, but the wire hoop dropping down on her head convinced Miss X to come a little way down the tree towards me. I talked sweetly to her, and she eventually decided that I was not a Kat Devouring Monster after all and that perhaps it would be ok for me to scratch her ears. She came within arms reach, and after an ear scratch or two, I grabbed her by the scruff and deposited her in the Kat Bag. I then lowered her to the ground to Mr. G, and she was taken to the house by Mrs. B. I then had to work my way back down because I had stupidly not taken my rope up in the tree with me, so I had to climb down instead of just rappelling down (Note to Self: Don't do that again!). Total time was about 1 hour, 40 minutes. So much for my "15 minute rescue" proclamation! I greatly appreciated the help by Mr. B and Mr. G at the base of the tree. I also appreciate Miss Hill from Lucky Dog Rescue for calling me about the situation.

I took a couple of pictures of Miss X as she was snuggling in Mrs. B's lap. I think that Miss X is definitely now in good hands!!!!